Norse Gaels for Saga: The Dark Ages

Small but perfectly formed (maybe): Brodir of Man's Norse Gael army

This is an army I have assembled over the last few years by buying odd packs of figures and which has been sitting around waiting to be painted for far, far too long. But, at last, they made it to the painting table this year. The original intent was that they would have been my fourth Saga army after Anglo-Danes, Vikings and Irish but my giving priority to The Crescent & The Cross has meant they've ended up being the sixth.

Army List

Norse Gaels have the unique capability of having warriors armed with Dane axes so I started out with one unit of these. I added both spear and Dane axe armed Hearthguard and Gripping Beast's Brodir of Man figure as a Warlord. I could expand this core as needed with Vikings that I had already painted previously, or my Sons of Death.

So my go to 6-point list is:

Warlord

3 x 4 Hearthguard (Dane Axe)

2 x 4 Hearthguard (Spears)

1 x 8 Warriors (Dane Axe)

The intent is that the warriors provide ablative shielding for the Warlord, as well as a reserve to be thrown in when necessary. The Dane axes will make them effective but quite vulnerable, so they will need to choose their opponents well and time their attack carefully. One 8-man spear armed Hearthguard unit will be the workhorse of the army. Three 4-man Dane axe armed Hearthguard units will be there for brave and suicidal charges into the enemy's finest - and hopefully will wipe them out in the process. All theoretical at this stage of course but the idea is that they operate similarly to my Mutatawwi'a. You never know, it might work!

If I field Brodir of Man, I'd use this same list but without the Warriors (and charge).

Figures

The Dane axe armed Warriors and spear armed Hearthguard are Gripping Beast Norse Gaels. The Dane axe armed Hearthguard are a mix of Gripping Beast Norse Gaels and Irish Fianna figures. Brodir is of course the Gripping Beast figure. I made his traditional opponent, Brian Boru, for my Irish,  using the Crusader Miniatures dismounted Brian Boru figure, and also converted an old favourite axe-armed fantasy figure that needed a repaint as an alternative Warlord should I not wish to field Brodir of Man.

Painting Scheme

To give a more Gaelic feel to these Norsemen, I chose to paint them with homespun designs similar to tartans and chequered patterns. I took each figure in turn and decided the colour scheme that would work for each of them. Shield designs were Viking in style, but tending to favour beasts and spirals and avoid crosses. I like to think my Norse Gaels embrace their Celtic roots and pagan heritage.

Warriors with Dane axes, painted in relatively muted colours, without shields, helmets or armour

More Dane axe armed Warriors

Spear armed Hearthguard - armoured and shielded with some helmets, and more bling than the Warriors

More spear-armed Hearthguard

Dane axe armed Hearthguard

More Dane Axe armed Hearthguard

And more of them

Brodir of Man (front and back views)

The broken cross on Brodir's base is made of Das Modelling Clay. If I made another one, I would use Milliput instead having discovered just how truly horrible Das is to work with.

Brian Boru, with added chair and refreshment (made from Milliput)

My alternative Warlord

This is a very old fantasy figure of mine, that I converted by lifting his left leg to rest on the body of a Viking victim (plastic Wargames Factory "Hammer of the Gods" Viking Huscarl, pose modified and cape added with the use of some green stuff). This has always been one of my favourite figures (though I have no idea of who the original manufacturer is) and after so many years of of good D&D service it is great to be able to give him a fresh coat of paint and a new lease of life as a Saga Warlord.